


Back in a Flash

by Elrotha



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Barry Allen - Freeform, Central City, Eobard Thawne - Freeform, F/M, Fanfiction, Harrison Wells - Freeform, Reader-Insert, S.T.A.R. Labs, STAR Labs, Slice of Life, Thawne, The Flash - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-29
Updated: 2018-01-03
Packaged: 2018-04-06 19:13:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 8,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4233462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elrotha/pseuds/Elrotha
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The devastating incident concerning the particle accelerator at S.T.A.R. Labs left many people with questions. Others, it left with superhuman powers. You are alone at your apartment in Central City, when the incident happens. How do you cope with this? And what do you do?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter I

You had been watching X-men when the whole building shook. At first, you thought it was just another effect from the construction site nearby, but then you figured it was too late for any construction workers to be there. Then it hit you. The particle accelerator was supposed to be turned on today. What if something had happened? You quickly switched to the news channel, but there was only grey noise. Then you looked outside. A mushroom cloud. Panic overwhelmed you and you had to sit down. Would there be radiation? Would you have to leave, even though you had just settled in here a month ago? Now, when it started feeling like a home, would you have to leave? You couldn’t stand the thoughts flowing through you. They made you shiver. There was an anxious feeling that surged through your spine. For a while, you just sat there and left yourself at the mercy of your thoughts. 

After what seemed hours, your panic had subsided into a strange numbness. You felt nothing. Even your mind seemed to have just gone blank. It wasn’t until your doorbell rang, that you were brought back to the world. It rang again. With trouble you got up. Even though you didn’t know exactly how long you had been sitting there, your legs knew, as they were numb. You limped to the door and answered through the intercom. “Yes?” A girly voice replied,” Hey [Y/N], it’s Lydia.” “Hey, what are you doing here?” you asked. You could barely finish your sentence or she’d already begun hers,” I was so worried. I texted you a million times! I thought you were hurt.” She was already trying to open the door, even though you hadn’t even pressed the ‘open’ button yet. When you did, she just flew upstairs and was at your door before you realised it. “LET ME IN [Y/N].” You opened the door and Lydia caught you in a tight, loving embrace. It was in that moment that you realised she was a true friend, and you loved her dearly for that.  
After the whole scare, the two of you had opened a bottle of wine and switched to some lovey-dovey chick flick. By the time you were drowsy and ready to go to bed, you noticed you hadn’t stopped at one bottle. You’d finished two and at least a half. You’d devoured all the salty snacks in your cabinet, while Lydia had worked her way through your sweets. She was more than tipsy, while you were actually handling yourself pretty well. Or so you thought. Once you started cleaning up the place, you realised how drowsy you really were. It hit you like a slap in the face, and your vision went black. You sat back and decided that cleaning up was a duty left best until tomorrow, so you crawled to your bed and pulled the blankets off. You figured you’d snuggle up with Lydia.

The next morning when you woke up, you smelled coffee and freshly baked bread. “[Y/N], I figured you and I deserved a nice breakfast.” As you rubbed the sleep from your eyes, you noticed Lydia had cleaned up your apartment and even went out to the bakery to buy yourselves fresh out of the oven bread. She really was a dear. When you joined her for breakfast, your phone buzzed. “It’s probably news about the accident.” Lydia whispered softly. She was scared, intensely scared. You could tell from the way she stared at her plate, her cup of coffee still in her hands. She pressed her lips into a thin line. “I just hope it’s not too bad.” You began,” Personally, I can’t complain. We made it through the night.” The words just seemed wrong, even though you wanted to believe it. She looked up,” Yeah, and we’re a reckless bunch.” She smiled, at last. That was more than you could hope for, even though it was meant to comfort you more so than it was a genuine smile. “I wonder what today will bring us.”


	2. Chapter II

After breakfast, you and Lydia sat down to think what you should do. She got your laptop out to start browsing the web. Online shopping was, apparently, her way of avoiding the outside. You survived the day by staying inside, watching series with Lydia -half focused on what was on the tv, half focused on her shopping spree-. By the time the two of you were hungry again, you noticed it was already past 8. “I’m not going to cook dinner anymore.” You said,” How about we order something?” “Sure,” Lydia replied,” I don’t mind pizza or Chinese.” So you grabbed your phone – which you had left exactly where it was before your panic attack yesterday, somewhere in between the couch and the wall – and ordered a Chinese take away for two. It was there faster than you would’ve thought, but maybe that was because you’d just continued watching your series. It probably took a normal amount of time. Lydia cracked open another bottle and you had a fancy dinner consisting of sweet chilli chicken, fried noodles and a glass of red wine. Despite the whole situation, you couldn’t help but giggle at the sight of it. You two were something. 

After the dinner, you each showered in turn and made it a girl’s night. Whilst listening to some ‘meditating Zen so many hour song’ you’d looked up on YouTube, you did Lydia’s nails and hair and she did yours. The bottle of wine Lydia had opened during dinner was empty by now and you two were giggling about girl stuff. That cute boy you saw everyday at the Jitters, that one dress you felt you were destined to buy, but when you went out to get it (after so many days of hesitation) it was sold out, that absolutely delicious looking sushi bar downtown. You were going to try that later this week with Lydia, it was decided. The clock showed it was past 1 a.m. and you figured you’d better get some rest. You and Lydia did your routines before both crawling in your bed. Before long, Lydia was asleep, but you seemed restless. Your mind wandered, but not in a way that was going to make you fall asleep. And so, you thought;  
The reason you had come to central city was so you could study at the Hudson university. You were there for your PhD in science and you were lucky you were still allowed to start, even though it was halfway through the year. Your family was somewhere on the other side of the US, so you wouldn’t get to go home often. Not that you minded, you liked the peace and quiet of Central City as opposed to the busy life of the city where you used to live. Since you were so busy with school most days of the week, you didn’t have time for a real job. So you figured you’d make money with drawing. You drew commissions for people all across the world, but also for local papers and the sort. Though the income was good enough you could live off it, you figured sooner or later you’d had to get a real job, as this income wasn't exactly stable. On the other hand, in a few weeks you were going to be a paid intern at some lab or wherever they wanted you. You met Lydia when you were staring at the S.T.A.R. Labs building. Lydia was there, writing some report on S.T.A.R. Labs. She came to you and asked you some questions for a survey, but the conversation ended up about so many other things you had in common besides the mutual interest in S.T.A.R. Labs. She asked for your personal info and if you wanted to talk about stuff over coffee sometimes. You had no one at the time, so you figured you might as well make a friend. To think that was only a little over 3 weeks ago and she was already promoted to ‘B.F.F’. You had some school friends, sure, but none quite like Lydia. She was nice. She made sure you weren’t caught up in your studies 24/7. Sometimes in the evening she would call and tell you to stop working and have some fun, then you would go meet her at Jitters shortly before closing time. You’d get your coffee to-go and walk through the city, gaze at S.T.A.R. Labs and go back home. You wished things would remain like that forever. And whilst wishing, you finally dozed off.


	3. Chapter III

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have the feeling it's been a bit boring up to here. Constructive criticism is always welcome as I intend to improve. I feel like my writing style is a bit boring, but I don't know how to change that. Suggestions?
> 
> Also! Sorry for not updating for so long. I've got an exhausting job for the summer and I just haven't found the time to write anything. Glad I made this in advance when I did have time. Hopefully, I'll write some more tomorrow afternoon.

Lydia left early in the morning. She had to work. You’d skipped school Friday, but at least now it was Saturday and you were allowed to stay home and do nothing all day. And you figured you would do that. Checking your commissions forum, you realised you had neglected it a little. There were several people informing as to whether you were still active. You quickly replied everyone and worked your way through the commissions. You loved the job, but drawing the whole day wasn’t part of a fun Saturday. There were only two left out of five, when you decided it was enough. You had worked hard and if you worked as hard tomorrow as you had today, you would finish them all before going back to school Monday. You hoped so, since Monday was usually your least productive day.  
You were still in your pj’s when, at 4 p.m., you had a craving for coffee. Wishing Lydia was still here, making her famous special coffee – of which you never learned the recipe, because it was a special secret and your excuse to ask her to come over very often – you stumbled into the kitchen and clumsily worked the machine. God, you were out of it today. Hopefully, the day would be over soon without too many failures, and you could start fresh again tomorrow. The machine beeped as it was done. Coffee, sweet coffee! As you grabbed your mug and walked back to your laptop, you stumbled again. You mug dropped to the ground and you nearly fell head first to the floor. Everything seemed to be in slow motion though. You consciously perceived every millisecond whilst falling and you even noticed how your mug was turning over and your coffee about to spill. _Really? I so don’t feel like making another cup._ But as you hoped it would somehow not turn over, even though you clearly saw it was going to, suddenly the liquid drifted mid-air, the cup dangling a few inches below. Clueless of what happened, you stared at the gravity defying phenomenon before you. The mug turned back, the coffee went back inside and it set itself softly on the ground. Had you not been so dumb-founded, you would’ve felt overwhelming gratitude that your coffee didn’t spill and you had to not only clean it up, but also make yourself a new one.  
After finishing your cup of gravity defying coffee, you wondered what had happened? Was it that this place was haunted? Maybe someone pulled a prank on you somehow. Could it be that maybe you had done it? None of these things made sense, and you certainly hoped your apartment wasn’t haunted. Could you somehow re-enact what had happened? You decided to try it with a cup of water, as it would leave no stains, unlike coffee. You grabbed a cup of water and fake fell to the ground, but your instinct told you to keep holding on to your cup, so you spilled nothing. You held it over the sink and emptied it, hoping maybe it would float again. Despite your hopes, it just ran down the sink. You put the cup down and stared at it. Surely you had not hallucinated it. Right? You let out a big sigh and turned around to go back to the couch and work on your drawings again. When you sat down, you heard a soft thud. When you looked back, you found the cup lying on the ground. You were sure you put it safely in the sink. Maybe... You held out your hand like you were some kind of Jedi and thought with all your strength. Unsure whether you’d imagined it, or whether it was true, you went to look. You could’ve sworn you’d just moved the cup slightly. You knelt next to the cup and tried again. Pointing both your hands at the cup, you thought about making it float. Even if it were just a few centimeters off the ground. As you felt some kind of cramp in your triceps, the cup raised. Centimeter after centimeter, until it was a small distance off the ground. The cramp in your triceps got bad, though. So you stopped, and the cup dropped to the ground. Due to your realisation, you didn’t care much for the pain: _You_ possessed some kind of magic.


	4. Chapter IV

“[Y/N]! I’m here.” Lydia’s voice blasted through the speaker. “Come up quickly!” you hissed as you pressed the ‘open’ button. You shot through the door to meet Lydia halfway. “Come, come, come.” You couldn’t contain your excitement. Grabbing Lydia by the coat, you darted back to your apartment. Locking the door, you made sure Lydia sat down quietly as to not pass out. “Okay, so hear this. I fall with my coffee and my coffee doesn’t spill. Instead, it just floats.” You whisper. Lydia’s eyes grew wide and a hint of amazement and confusion flashed through them. “C-can you show?” Lydia stuttered. Fiercely, you nodded and grabbed a pencil. “I don’t know how far I’ll get it. When I tried this afternoon, it hurt my arm.” Arms pointed at the pencil, you focussed intensely. Swiftly, it shifted. You felt it. You weren’t sure whether Lydia had seen it, but you had felt it. You opened your eyes and looked at Lydia. Her face of pure awe said enough; She’d seen it as well. “What else can you do? Can you lift me?” Turning your attention to her, you tried, but it was too much. Pain flared through your arm like you pulled a muscle. That thought gave you an idea though. If it were a power you possessed, it would work like a muscle. Train it and it gets stronger. Overexert it and you may pull the muscle. “I can’t. Not yet. I think if I train, I might be able to lift heavier things, but not right now.” You explained. Lydia understood. Nodding her head, she seemed to be thinking about something, but she never started about it.

Since you called Lydia over just after she got home from work, and you had just been waiting for her, neither of you had had dinner yet. “Take away Chinese?” you asked, but Lydia disagreed. She went on rambling about how you cannot live off of take away food and you had to eat healthy, you were a [your gender] in your prime years after all. You had to grow. After she had said it with a serious face, she burst out in laughter and so did you. You knew she would never say something like that. That girl practically lived off Chinese food and insta-noodles. And with that, you knew what you had to order. 

After dinner, you and Lydia looked up stuff about telekinesis on the internet. Lots of communities and forums, but nothing really answered all the questions you had or gave any useful information. Somewhere someone did confirm in a way that telekinesis can be trained, and that emotions play a powerful role in the strength of your telekinesis. “You know, we can keep searching information about this or you could start doing exercises. I think the only way we can really figure out the extent of your abilities, is by observing what you can do.” Lydia said as she grabbed a notepad and a pen. And so, you started training with Lydia. Focussing on the pen Lydia had grabbed, you let it shift. But shifting wasn’t what you wanted to do. You wanted to raise it, like you had with your cup of coffee earlier. You focussed on getting it off the table. Feeling the shape and density of the pen in your head, it was as if you had it in your hand. You thought of grabbing it tighter and raising it, as if it really were in your hand. Then you felt it. It was like the pen’s weight was gone. There was nothing but the shape and feeling of it. You felt the smooth surface of the metal casing and the wet tip of the ballpoint. When you were focussed like this, it seemed so easy to do. It was a strange feeling that overcame you. A deep calm, unlike you’ve ever felt. You knew, though, if you could only control things when you were this calm, you would not be able to control things often. Why you were this calm, you didn’t know. Maybe it was Lydia’s calm that connected to you, having her by your side and watching over you felt comforting. Having had dinner helped as well, since now you weren’t distracted by your hunger. Suddenly the pen grew heavier and you felt a warm, but numbing feeling grow throughout your arms. After opening your eyes, you realised the pen was slowly lowering. “Don’t worry.” Lydia began, ”You did so well. We’ll just try again tomorrow.” Her faithful smile comforted you, though you still felt a tinge of disappointment. It had felt so easy to hold it up, when suddenly it had become too heavy. But at least you managed to make it float, which was more than satisfying. Happily, you sighed. “Let’s watch a movie or something.”


	5. Chapter V

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because I love you guys and I'm so ashamed I neglected the story! 
> 
> I started studying this year so I've been overly focussed on that. Even though the story is so cute and god I want to write everything right now! I'm going to keep on writing, try to update again soon! :D :D :D 
> 
> Hope you like it, even though it's not very exciting.

The night was rough. You kept having the same sort of nightmare over and over again. It began with you walking home from school. Somehow it had grown late before you had decided to go back home. Dark stretches were covering the sky. The clouds felt eerie and cold. Everything felt so real, yet so off. After a little while, you found yourself wandering across a cement field. You knew the power plants were close by, but you couldn’t figure out why you were walking here. Something pulled at you, an invisible force. It had guided you here, drawn you here. You knew it was true, somehow. Then suddenly, everything was wrong. The feeling that washed over you, you couldn’t describe it. Even utter panic could not begin to describe it. Your legs grew heavy, your feet stopped working. You were frozen in place. A cold shudder ran up your spine. Something.. was coming for you. It was behind you, lurking. You managed to turn your head, but you could do nothing to stop the bullet rushing towards your face. 

Screaming, you woke up. Tears were running down your cheeks, your legs were numb, your breathing out of control. Whatever that nightmare was, had seemed so real. It was terrifying. You had to get out of bed. You couldn’t sleep anymore. After that torture, you couldn’t possibly think about going back to bed, back to that. Shivering from cold sweat, you walked towards the sink. The mirror above reflected a horrified [Y/Gender]. You were as pale as a corpse, your eyes coloured red from popped veins, black bags beneath your eyes made you look like skin over bones. The only word you could think of was ‘disaster’, you looked like a disaster. The faucet squealed while you switched it on. The cold water running over your hands felt nice. It felt like the fresh start you were going to need for tonight. You splashed it in your face, before turning on your heel to get some clean pj’s. 

After collecting your clothes, you took a shower. Sitting in the bathtub, letting the water run over your cold spine relaxed you. It cleared your mind, though the uneasiness was still swirling in the air. Exhaustion rushed over you eventually, and you turned off the tap to go to the living room. The clock read 5:47 in the morning. The smell of coffee flared your nostrils. It must’ve come from your neighbour, who works early shifts every freaking day. Or it surely looked like that. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea to get yourself some coffee as well. You checked your phone while turning on the coffee machine. Nothing, as expected. Who would be online at this hour. (The neighbour!) You grabbed the cup and sat yourself on the couch. “Lydia, my dearest” you began, chuckling. Then you erased the message again. You’d probably wake her up if you texted her. She was always on standby for you. Since you had no intention of going back to sleep, you decided to finish the last two commissions. After that, maybe you would try and train your telekinesis again. 

Yesterday when Lydia was there, you had felt so calm and collected. It took almost no effort at all to lift the pen. Now however, you couldn’t concentrate. When trying to empty your mind, all that you could think of was the nightmare. That feeling of being shot in the head. God, it was never going to leave you. The memory felt like it would last. It was awful. You looked at the clock again, it was 9:56 a.m. You decided getting breakfast and maybe doing some running would clear your mind properly. 

Halfway through your run, you’d gotten cramps. Too soon after breakfast you had started running, and now it was punishing you. Not to mention that you were racing like the wind, probably because you were still haunted by your nightmare. But it was settling down now, you could feel that. You texted Lydia, “Coffee @ Jitters ?” In the meantime you were making your way over there, so you could still get coffee for just yourself if she decided not to come. Maybe you could see that cute boy again. God, his smile was adorable. Grinning like some idiot, you weren’t paying attention and ran right into a post. “FU-“ you yelled as you stumbled. You looked back at the post. “That is not okay..” You whispered to yourself. The lamp post was not only dented where you ran into it, but it was lunging to the side. When you ran into it, you must’ve used your powers. You collected yourself and quickly darted off, hoping no one saw that. Maybe they’d think it was a car that ran into it, though the impact must’ve come from the sidewalk. “Eh... best not to think about it too much.”


	6. Chapter VI

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who wants another chapter? :)

Lydia couldn’t make it, she had to get to work in a little while. You felt a little down she couldn’t come with you, but you were fine going on your own. The thought of seeing the brunette was enough to draw you there. In your head, you were thinking of ways to start a conversation. Maybe bump into him, apologise, offer him coffee. Although.. then he’d think you were clumsy and no one would want to date someone clumsy. So definitely do not spill your coffee over him to get his attention. Something else? Maybe he’d see you staring and decide to talk to you? That would be amazing, but you doubted that would ever happen. Maybe he wouldn’t even be there, you’d be disappointed, but you decided not to think about that scenario.

You had ordered your coffee and sat down, when you saw the girl he was usually with. He was not there, and the girl looked down and tired. You wondered what she was thinking of. Before you even realised it, you were standing next to her. She looked over, confused that you were suddenly standing next to her. “I’m sorry,” you muttered, “Are you okay? You look... down.” The girl’s eyes were staring into nothingness, she was thinking about something. She opened her mouth to say something, when you began talking again, “I’m so sorry I just started talking to you. You must think I’m some sort of creep! I always see you and your friend here and noticed he wasn’t here so I thought ‘you know, that can happen. He’s probably at work or whatever.’ But then I noticed your face. That sounds weird, I’m sorry, I meant the emotions in your face. And... ” The girl muttered something and wiped away a tear. “I.. I’m sorry.” She whispered, “That boy... he was in an accident.” 

The shock that you felt crawling through your stomach, it was overwhelming. It was as if your stomach dropped and all your intestines just disappeared. There was only void. The feeling must’ve showed on your face, because the girl started hugging you dearly. “Thank you.” She whispered, “Thank you for this.” You were confused; You were scared to death, she was hugging you and now she was thanking you! “It’s.. ehm.. I’m sorry.” You whispered to her. She let go of you and smiled. “I’d better get back to him now. Maybe I’ll see you around.” She waved as she gracefully made her way through the crowd. She was on her way back to the boy you liked, so you couldn’t help but feel a little pang of jealousy and envy. Amidst those feelings, you also felt happiness. Happiness that you helped her, in a way, and that she could be so close to him. You grabbed your coffee tighter and made your way back to your apartment. 

Back at home you couldn’t help but feel a little worried. She had said he was in an accident, but not how badly he was injured or what exactly had happened. She hadn’t given her number, so it was impossible to get in touch with her and see how he (or she for that matter) was doing. You felt no disclosure at all. It frustrated you, but you couldn’t feel mad at her. It was her friend who was in an accident, of course in her mind she was with him. It was only logical she didn’t think about telling you anything about what happened, simply because her mind was racing. You accepted that, and hoped you would run into her again someday soon. Then your phone rang, it was Lydia who had texted you. “Are you practicing?” You smiled. The thought of her being motivated to train you, or help you at least, was pleasant. “Just about to.” You texted back. You quickly hopped into the shower to wash off the sweat and worry. 

One, two, three. You were counting the amount of times you had lifted a porcelain plate. One, two, three, four, five, six. That was the amount of times you had lifted a pen. Somehow a pen was easier than a plate. It was odd, but there probably was a logical explanation. You picked some other objects, like a cup, an apple and a magazine. Some were easier to lift, so you decided to write it down. After all, experiments are just messing around, unless you write down your observations. The pen, cup and apple were easy to lift, while the plate and magazine were more difficult. You wondered why, so you decided to write down their characteristics. At some point, you had so much information on your notepad, but you couldn’t see the correlation. Lydia was a smart girl, maybe she could see what was going on. You sent a picture of your writings to her, with the text: “Why?” and within no time she replied. “Greater surface area -> more (air) resistance. Try lifting sideways?” And so, you did. You tilted the plate sideways, which was exhausting, but not as bad as it had been yesterday. When it was sideways, it was indeed easier to lift! Lydia was a genius!


	7. Chapter VII

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooookaaaay, so it's the start of a new semester for me. That means I'll get super busy studying and all that stuff. But I knew it was coming, so after last chapter I wrote some in advance. I got a few chapters waiting to be published, so I can upload them over the course of the next several weeks. It's not enough that I can publish one every week without writing new chapters, so depending on how busy I get I might publish every week .. or not.   
> I'll really really try to get a new one up every week, but I just thought you should know. :)  
> Enjoy!

With that knowledge and a coffee break, it was just a piece of cake lifting small things. The plate, the magazine, anything with a bigger surface area would come up just as easily once it was sideways. You were amazed by how easy it was. Somehow, you had made great improvement since yesterday. But why? There was nothing you did differently. Or did you? Maybe it wasn’t just Lydia’s calm that had motivated you yesterday, but her own motivation towards you. The external motivation was what drove you yesterday. Today, it was the excitement of seeing that cute boy (and possibly the remnants of other emotions) that drove you. 

You figured if you could lift small things so easily, you could probably also lift bigger things. Though it would probably take more energy and focus. Excitement of trying different things was just taking over and you were sure you were up to the task. You decided to lift something light, but bigger. You decided to lift a cushion. The surface area was bigger, but the density was pretty low. It made you unsure what to expect. Would the surface area make it more difficult? Would the lightness of the object make it easier? Then you figured it would be best to try and find out. You focussed, all your energy and concentration gathered into one clot. It massed. Then it stretched, from your feet through the ground. You felt the texture of the wooden plates. Rough and dented, and cold. Then it moved, to the steel legs of the bed. Smooth and cold. Then to the fabric of your sheets. Each thread, each knot. Then you reached the cushion. The softness of the fabric. The fluffy stuffing. The difference of the threads of the fabric. The ones that were facing down, to the bed, and the ones facing the ceiling. The side you slept on, the side you drooled on. You could feel the remnants too. Though you were a little embarrassed, you pushed that thought aside. Then you wrapped your focus around the cushion. With great resistance, you felt it lift. You felt your muscles tense; the ones in your arms, in your neck and even your abdominal muscles. You felt like you were actually lifting it physically. Then it stopped going up, no matter how hard you tried. So you opened your eyes. Not only had the cushion reached the ceiling, the whole bed had! You had lifted the whole bed! No wonder it was so tough. 

Then it dropped to the ground. 

Not long after, the neighbours from the apartment below came knocking on your door. You apologised and explained that you were moving the bed and then suddenly it slipped from your hands. You promised it wouldn’t happen again. “It’d better not.” They said as they left. They were usually nice people, but their reaction was off. It was probably because the girl had just conceived a baby and they were exhausted. You had probably woken the baby. Maybe you should get them some baby gifts,... and earplugs. ... and get the girl some wine. 

The rest of the day was spent lifting smaller things, watching Netflix and texting Lydia. She was super excited for you and what you had achieved. At some point, you wanted to order takeaway, but you realised you had ordered too much the last week. Then you decided to make some mac & cheese, nice and easy. When you opened the cabinet, however, you realised why you ordered food the entire week. You had done no grocery shopping and you had been too lazy to go. You moaned, not wanting to go outside. But you had to, you were all grown up now. You were an adult, living on your own. You had responsibilities now, like grocery shopping. And so, you quickly went on your way. 

After dinner, you were bored out of your skull. There was just nothing you wanted to do and nothing that seemed worth doing. Scrolling through your phone, you reached the agenda app. Then it hit you. “Fu-“ you yelled. No matter how powerful you were, you still had to study for exams. Especially those you had tomorrow. And so, the plans for the evening had been decided. 

11:58 pm. It was almost midnight. You had studied quite enough for today. You were tired and nothing you read was really absorbed. The exam tomorrow would probably be no issue though, you were smart and you knew yourself. Earlier this week, you had figured this was going to happen, so you had studied in advance. If it wasn’t enough and you still failed the exam tomorrow, it’d be one of the first. So you weren’t all that worried, just a little... disappointed.


	8. Chapter VIII

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long! I had to go out in the field for some projects, so I didn't have a lot of spare time this week. Also got an exam this monday, so I've been studying
> 
> I feel this chapter is a bit slow and boring. Sorry

Everything you had studied, showed up on the exam. You were certain you aced it and figured you deserved a treat. You were waiting in the canteen. There was still a project that needed to be finished this week, so your group wanted to spend the rest of the morning working on it. But they weren’t here yet, so you waited. You were glad you could finally sit down though. Once you woke up this morning, everything had hurt so badly. You had sore muscles and at first, you thought it was because you had gone out running. But then you figured it could very well be from having lifted the bed. So many muscles had ached when you achieved that. Maybe that’s why they were sore now. Telekinesis was a skill after all, and skills need training, and strain will leave your muscles sore. Well, there wasn’t much you could do about it anymore. You just let it be. 

A noisy table in the far corner attracted your attention. You saw a girl with a cupcake, being obnoxious. She was harassing people that walked past, calling them names, making them trip. It was so childish, you couldn’t understand how someone like that had made it into college. The cupcake looked delicious though, and you thought about buying yourself one. You could feel the texture of the cupcake, you could taste the glazing that was on top of it. Then suddenly, the cupcake disappeared from the girl’s table. When she went to take a bite, she couldn’t find it. Being the child that she was acting like, she started throwing a tantrum. Accusing everyone around here, telling her friends to buy her a new one. That kind of behaviour. You sighed and looked back at your table. What was that? A cupcake? You just sat silently, staring at the cupcake. You had wanted one after you saw the one from the girl, now the girl didn’t have hers, but you had one. Had you...? No, it couldn’t possibly... Had you teleported it somehow? Was that part of your power? 

After finishing the project you went straight back home. You wanted to make sure what you thought you did, had really happened, before telling Lydia. Somehow you only trusted her with this knowledge, and you felt you had a reputation to fulfil. Though you never would have to, not with Lydia. She was the most accepting person in the world. You loved her, you loved her like family. But you didn’t want to disappoint her. At home, you tried teleporting an apple. You sat across the room and looked at it, stared intently at it. You felt the smooth surface of the apple, the texture of the inside. It was juicy. You wanted it. You wanted to take a bite from it, taste the sweetness. It was difficult though. It wasn’t like lifting it, which was easy. Though today it hurt a little more, because you were still sore from yesterday. It frustrated you. You wanted to take it apart, smash it to the ground. It just had to come here, or freaking explode if it wasn’t going to do what you wanted. And then it did what you wanted, but not the way you wanted it. You see, you wanted it to come, or explode. It was what you wanted, and what you wanted it had done. It had exploded all over the table, because it wasn’t coming. You screamed in frustration and threw your pillows across the room. It would’ve been funny if you weren’t so intent on teleporting it. Maybe you would try again later, with something else. But now, you were going to clean it up and do something more fun.


	9. Chapter IX

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait

After having cleaned the apple, you had started watching Netflix. There was this series that some classmates recommended, but you hadn’t taken the time to check it out just yet. Now however you were watching it, happily. It was exciting and every episode had a new problem to overcome, each episode more dramatic than the previous one. At some point the show had reached its climax however and you felt like each episode was exactly the same setup with a different set of characters and situations. It wasn’t nearly as exciting as it was the first few episodes.   
While you were watching the boring remaining episodes, you tried lifting some more things without looking at them. You knew your shoes were by the side of the couch, so you tried lifting them with your eyes closed, solely focussing on the feeling of telekinesis. It was difficult, letting your focus glide over the couch, towards the floor, and then towards your shoes. Although, you had to search for the feeling of your shoes. You were looking for the fabric of your sneakers, but all you felt was the surface of the wooden floor. It took you a good 5 minutes before you finally felt them. You knew what was the problem though. When you focussed, you could only scour a small surface. You needed to train to expand your focus.   
When it wouldn’t work after trying a dozen of times, you grew impatient and grumpy. It was starting to grow late and you didn’t feel like doing anything anymore, so you washed with a towel and went to bed. 

The night had been rough again. The same nightmare haunted you again and again. Each time you dreamt it, it expanded. You had seen what happened before the whole event, each time a little more. This time you saw you had picked up some item at school. Your bag. It looked like you had forgotten it in the canteen, or that it was put there. Something seemed off though. There was something off about the way you felt. It made you nervous and feeling sick. Then you left, in the dark. And the dream continued where it had started last time. 

 

The weather was changing. It was growing colder and colder. The last bits of Christmas decorations were being put up. It was, after all, only a several days before Christmas Eve. There were snowflakes raining down heavily from the sky. It was growing colder and the snow would not melt once it touched the ground. It was Friday by now. The last few days had been all about finishing up the last projects and exams of the semester. If you had focussed solely on your studies, you wouldn’t have been able to spend any time practicing at all, but you made time. If Telekinesis worked anything like a muscle, not using it for an extended period of time would only weaken it. 

Today you had decided to walk to school. Taking the bus was a hassle when there was snow, because everyone would want to get on it, but there’d be delays because of the snow. Then everything would be overcrowded. No, you were content with walking. Seeing people decorate their houses and gardens with lights and garlands made you feel giddy. It always looked so warm and comfortable and cosy and cute, it made you sad you weren’t able to visit your parents this time. No, they had to go and win a vacation to Ibiza. Instead you would spend Christmas alone. You knew if you asked, Lydia would let you come or she would’ve even joined you herself. But you didn’t want to ruin Christmas for her, so you hadn’t mentioned it. Maybe you would still meet someone whom you could spend Christmas with. Or maybe some friends from school who also had nowhere to go would want to celebrate with you. It’d be fun, but you doubted it was going to happen. 

School was over before it began. The teachers had arranged a Christmas breakfast and they had set up all sorts of events and workshops inside the building. Some students had known about the organisation and had pitched in. The IT faculty had turned some classrooms into cinema’s and others into gaming rooms. Engineering had turned the canteen into the most beautiful Christmas themed room in the whole city. Not even the shops in town had been dressed up the way they had dressed up the canteen. There were more decorations than people who had participated in the preparations. They had set up some sort of device on one of the walls with thousands of LED lights. It showed a deer, then Santa Claus, then it would change to Merry Christmas. It changed every 5 minutes into another beautiful creation. The laboratory had prepared a workshop were you could dissect organs from certain animals. Some teachers had thought it inappropriate, because it was supposed to be sweet and cute, and now they gave students the chance to look into a deer’s brain. 

Certainly there was entertainment in abundance. You had visited more workshops than you could count, and eaten more cake and candy then you deemed acceptable. But you just shoved it off as Christmas spirit. You hadn’t met Lydia that day anymore. You wondered if she even had come to school, or if maybe you just hadn’t seen her. You texted her to see if she was at home, or somewhere you could meet. You still wanted to wish her happy holidays, before not seeing her for a while.


	10. Chapter X

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christmas ~  
> (Can you believe it took me a freaking year to upload the chapter... It's almost Christmas again!!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for neglecting the story. Same reason as always; school takes up a lot of my free time and the stress it gives me leaves me unable to be creative and write. Also, I've taken up the hobby of Cosplaying a little over a year ago. That's been a major part of my schedule too. I love it, but I do wish I can go back to writing sometime again. I miss it. It gave me peace ~  
> Let's hope I'll find more time this time around.. though I wonder; I said it three times before too (°ロ°)'
> 
> Edit:  
> Accidentally uploaded the previous chapter here. Let's try this again :')

You were back at home now. The snowflakes melting in your hair. You were feeling happy now, having still met Lydia at Jitters. After texting her, the two of you had gone to Jitters and ordered something Christmas themed. You talked about your plans for the holidays and you lied about having your parents over. She was going to stay at her parents place for a few days, but she’d be back for the last week of the holidays. Since you wouldn’t be able to share Christmas presents, the two of you had decided to buy some presents for each other and have them sent by mail so it still felt like a party. You had bought her a necklace and perfume you knew she liked. It was expensive, but well worth it. Even more if you weren’t going to see each other for so long. 

The next several days had been boring. You had nothing to do, besides drawing some commissions and training your Telekinesis. At some point you wondered what would come first, your descent into madness or Lydia dragging you out of your apartment when she didn’t hear from you in so many days. You figured Lydia would come first. 

It was the morning of Christmas eve and you had made no attempts to get friends over or go somewhere. You really wanted to, but it felt as though something were holding you back. After getting over whatever feeling it was, you started texting some people from school. Most of them had gone to their parents, but some had indeed stayed. In the end, three people you knew quite well, had agreed to come. This meant you would have to go out and get groceries and decorations. It wasn’t until you had finished a list of the decorations you wanted, that it scared you how empty and cold your apartment seemed. You had always been such a warm person, decorating the house with flowers and anything within the range of festivities. It left you wondering why you hadn’t decorated your apartment this time.   
It had taken most of four hours to collect everything. Then the real fun would begin, because you still had to put everything up. Most of the garlands and confetti you could just throw here and there. But you couldn’t exactly throw a Christmas tree into place, along with its decorations. In the end, you had about an hour before your guests would arrive. Quickly you had eaten something easy and dressed up. You looked nice. You had bought some formal clothes, but they were comfortable nonetheless. Then you ordered pizza, sweets and all sorts of other Christmas and party foods. It was expensive, but you knew it was worth it. It was fun to do something so spontaneous and you were happy to make some fond memories.

In the end, you had bought too much food. The tables were stocked, not only with what you’d bought, but also what your guests had brought. Most of them had brought booze and snacks, but some had even gone out of their way to bring stuffed turkey.   
There was music and the room was dimly lit. The decorations glowed with warm lights and red and white hue. You had already finished two bottles of wine and there was more than enough time to finish the other two. You had already felt a warm fuzz in your stomach, but it wouldn’t stop you from being festive with your friends. In the end, five people had come. Two of whom you had asked, had shown up at the agreed time, one had brought a friend you knew as well. They were Mark, Daisy and Keith. About an hour later, Jules had shown up with Romy. Romy was his soon-to-be girlfriend; they had been dating for a few weeks now and they were pretty serious about it, but none of them had made an attempt to make it official. You had met Romy once or twice, she was a kind girl, though a little too exciting for your taste. 

At some point that night, talking had turned to slurring and you realised you shouldn’t drink any more. At that point, there was a knock on the door. At first you were afraid it was the neighbours from downstairs, complaining that you woke their baby. But when you opened the door it was someone you knew very well. “Lydia!” you screamed, “what are you doing here? I thought you were gone to your parents!” Lydia stepped into the room and hugged you, “My dearest [Y/N]. My parents live quite close by and the party was done about two hours ago, so I came over here. I knew you couldn’t go to your parents, because a few week ago you had already told me your parents would go to Ibiza!” You hugged her tightly and offered her wine. This night would leave very fond memories.

Groggily, you shoved all the cans and throw-away plates into the garbage can. Lydia had stayed, because at some point she tripped and twisted her ankle. Letting her leave alone at night through the snow was not something you allowed. The others all had partners with which they went home, so that would be fine. The last guests had left at 5-ish in the morning. You couldn’t read the clock at that time, but you thought you remembered the time. The clock now said 11:02, meaning you had slept less than 6 hours. You couldn’t sleep anymore though. The nightmare had come again and left you turning and twitching and spinning out of bed. On full auto pilot you stumbled through the room, cleaning up the mess that resembled the memories of yesterday.


	11. Chapter XI

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if you think it's taking too long before I upload something else, I'll try to post more regularly.

Over the course of the holidays, you had greatly improved your Telekinesis. Albeit because you spent hours on end training, every day for the past three or four days. At some point you had managed to raise the bed without even looking. Today however you felt particularly distressed. Everything worked how it normally did, but still you felt something was off somehow. You knew tomorrow was New Year’s Eve and you had agreed to celebrate at Lydia’s place. So maybe the distressed feeling was just nervousness or something alike, though you wouldn’t know why you’d feel that. You shook the feeling away and went for a quick run, after which you took a nice, warm shower. You felt refreshed, so you dressed up and left to go shopping. 

You bought Lydia some small gifts as thanks for letting you come over. By the time you got home, the entire day felt like it flew by so quickly. It was already dinner time and you actually still wanted to bake something for tomorrow. Having your food delivered – yes, it was take-away again – you started baking donuts, because they were actually fairly easy to make. Still you couldn’t shake the feeling something was up. After baking donuts, you watched some Netflix and drank wine on your own. You hoped it would ease the nerves, but even as you stumbled into bed, your nerves were right on edge.   
The next day was entirely different, you were so excited for today you nearly got sick. You were filled with happiness as you looked at the clock and realised it was only several hours before you could go to Lydia. You even had time to bake more donuts, so you did. 

Then the count-down started, it was only 90 minutes before you had to go and you were still covered in glaze and flour. You hopped into the shower, washing everything away as quickly as possible. As you were drying yourself, you ran through your room to get everything you needed. Your clothes, your comb and whatever else you could possibly need. You weren’t even completely dry when you yanked your clothes over your head. Quickly, you blow-dried your hair and ran the comb through it. Without hesitation, you could say you’ve never gotten ready this quickly. You still had about 40 minutes, so you packed your donuts safe and secure in boxes. 6:30. Seeing as how you are Lydia’s best friend, you figured you were allowed to be a little early, so you just left and walked slowly. Well, as slow as you could with all that excitement. 

“10.. 9.. 8..” the countdown to the new year had begun. You couldn’t hide your nerves, your excitement, you were ready for this year. Ready to do some crazy, exciting and new things with Lydia, most importantly, but also with new people. “3.. 2.. 1..” Everywhere around your head, bottles of champagne popped. Several girls cried out as the corks flew around their heads, several boys laughed as the champagne nearly spilled all over their hands. It was perfect. 

You talked to the last few people. It was 6 in the morning and they were thinking about going home. Even you thought it was time; with all that food and booze in your stomach, you were exhausted. Not to mention the lack of adrenaline. Lydia showed them the way out. “You want to stay here [Y/N]? You don’t have to go back home.” “I know, but I think the fresh air might do me good. Thanks for the offer anyway.” You said as you grabbed your coat. “At least let me walk you home.” She offered, “Halfway, then I go back as well.” She was already putting on her coat. “Halfway, sure.” You smiled groggily.   
Lydia was holding your hand as you walked through town. You were only a couple of blocks away from your house – because Lydia didn’t stop halfway – when you heard rumbling around the alleys. You grabbed her hand tighter and walked faster, when you heard a voice: “Hey ladies, looking fancy!” You looked behind you and saw a man walking just a few meters away from you. He kept his hands in his pockets. “Got some change for a lone man?” he gibbered. The man had definitely drank tonight. “Keep walking.” You whispered to Lydia. So you kept on stepping, but the man wouldn’t let it go quite so easily. “Ladies...” he wailed as he flew with his arms. You turned back to Lydia and started running, but somehow the man had predicted it and you felt his grip on your shoulder tighten as he tried to pull you back. You turned around, heart pounding in your throat, in your temples. Your hands were aching, burning. You tried to shove him off, but he grabbed your throat instead. Lydia punched him in his face and he let you go. Your throat burned, your face was wet with sweat and tears. Then he grabbed a gun from his pocket, but before you could even think, you reached out your hands and pushed him straight across the street. Several tens of meters, until the man was no longer airborne. He came down with a thud. Your eyes burned, but your hands no more. Somehow releasing that energy felt.. relieving. You turned to Lydia. She was so pale you thought she might’ve died. “He’s not moving.” She whispered. “It’s okay.” You whispered back as you grabbed her shoulders and turned her away from the man. “It’s okay, he’s fine. It’s his problem.” You said as you glanced back; he really wasn’t moving. “Let’s go to my place, quickly.” You said as you gently pushed her.


End file.
